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The situation of Christians in Iraq continues to worsen by the hour

· Patriarch of Babylon for Chaldeans asks that Muslims respect the non-violent prescriptions of the Quran ·

July 21, 2014

The condition of Christians in Iraq
continues to worsen by the hour. Hundreds of families have been forced to flee
and abandon their villages and homes due to the threat of the jihadists of the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). And now in an attempt to wound the
people of Mossul and other areas in the
northern Iraqi province of Ninive, the extremists suddenly cut off water,
electricity and gas to the people who remain. In various areas of Ninive, which
is controlled by the Islamic extremists, the internally displaced persons are
increasing. Among these are Christian families, who have been forced to abandon
their belongings due to the ultimatum of the jihadists (convert to Islam or
die) and due to the lack of basic services.

On Sunday afternoon, the jihadist militants
seized the ancient monastery of Mar Behnam, located 10 minutes from the city of
Qaraqosh, which is mostly Christian. Until Saturday the monastery was managed
by Syro-Catholic munks. “The international community”, said Fr Nizar Semaan, a
colleague of Archbishop Yohanna Petros
Moshe of Mossul for Syrians, “is disturbingly passive in the face of what is happening. Concrete measures
are necessary on the humanitarian and political level”.

In an open letter
addressed to “all men of good will and to those who are concerned about the
nation of Iraq”, the Patriarch Louis
Raphaël Sako i of Babylon for
Chaldeans recalls that recent acts of violence are contrary to the Quran and
damage the great common history of commitment of all Iraqis for the country.